


diaphanous

by euadnes



Series: orange is the color of my love [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Not together YET, POV Poe Dameron, Pining, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Space Adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28838763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euadnes/pseuds/euadnes
Summary: oh my god there was only one pilot seat
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: orange is the color of my love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114598
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	diaphanous

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little adventure story that takes place somewhere in between TLJ and TRoS. In my head it takes place before the main story of my fic but can also be read as a separate story. I have zero free time so I wanted to post this since it’s been a while since the last update. I’m slowing getting close to finishing the next chapter, I promise!

Examining the compact orbital jumper, the only thought Poe could surmise was this: _Finn’s going to kill me._

He tried to make his tone as dread free as possible as he spoke into his handheld commlink. “Change of plans, Finn. I think Pacer got his information scrambled.”

“How do you mean?” came a monotone response.

“I mean, the shuttlecraft he said would be dropped here for refueling and repairs is not at all a shuttle.”

“Well, whatever it is, can you fly it?” Finn’s voice was more frantic now. He sounded like he was running. On the other side of the asteroid space port, several landing platforms over, pandemonium unleashed. Poe had a slight inkling they were finally found out. 

“When I said I could fly anything, I meant that, you know,” he said, only mildly annoyed. 

“Poe!”

“Yes, yes, I can fly us out! But –“

Finn yelled over him. Blaster fire echoed in the still air. “Just get those thrusters warmed up!”

Cursing, Poe unhooked the fuel line and climbed up to the cockpit, pausing briefly to take in the scene. _Finn really isn’t going to like this._

But he could make it work. He _had_ to make it work. 

The hatch slid back for him easily and he jumped down into the pilot’s seat. The _single_ pilot’s seat. Controls were simple enough for unfamiliar tech. Wherever this ship came from, it was now their only chance of making it out alive. After a moment of searching, Poe was able to find the ignition switch and the ship came to life.

More commotion on the platform. An explosion from not too far away rocked the ship. Finn was only supposed to steal a supply itinerary for the next dozen or so rotations, what the frag was he doing?

“Come on, come on,” Poe murmured, keeping one eye ahead for his friend, another focused on preparing the ship to launch. Dark clouds of smoke had drifted to his location, trapped within the base’s atmosphere bubble and having nowhere else to go. Finally, a figure disguised in mechanic’s clothes burst out of the chaos, shedding gloves and headgear as he ran past. Poe flashed the ship’s lights at him. 

The man stopped and stood stupefied for a second, considering the small ship. Impatient, Poe yelled over the comm again. “Finn, it’s me, come _on_!”

That spurred him into action, and he began climbing up to the cockpit immediately, kicking the ladder to the ground as he reached the top.

Another explosion rang out, this time further away. 

“What the hell did you do?” Poe asked him.

Finn’s laughing face loomed above him as he looked down at Poe. “There was a group of First Order officers doing a surprise inspection. I passed some rhydonium canisters on the way here and well… surprise?”

A shocked laugh bubbled up out of Poe. “Man, you’re crazy,” he said. 

He looked out again. That last blast set off a chain reaction for more explosions. They blossomed around the other platforms, spreading to the farthest one, where a First Order shuttle sat parked. Black figures the size of ants were dashing around. Lights from different platforms started pointing their way.

“We gotta go.”

Finn’s laughter finally died as he took in the space Poe occupied. He glanced to the back of the ship, then again at Poe. “Uh…”

“I told you, it’s no freighter.”

“It isn’t _anything,_ Poe, what would we even use this for?”

“We’re going use it to get off this rock and _escape,_ now hurry up!”

Finn took one last look around the platform before he dropped inside. Poe had tried to make as much room for him as he could, but neither of them were exactly small men. Already, Finn’s right thigh was practically on top of his left one. They were packed in tight, pressed against each other from their shoulders down to their boots. Their bodies were angled slightly toward one another and Finn moved his arm so it was draped behind the chair, hand coming to rest on Poe’s right shoulder. 

“I did pass an old gunship on the way here,” Finn said, discomfort plain in his voice.

Poe tried to make out anything past the landing platform they were on and only saw a wasteland of fire and smoke. “Oh, out there, you mean?”

“Whatever, we don’t have time. Just get us out of here,” he grumbled.

The flight stick was installed high enough that Poe could operate it without issue and their legs had enough space. Though that didn’t save Finn from getting an elbow square in the chest as he pulled the stick towards them. The ship handled well and they were off without incident. Port security finally caught up with them a minute too late, scattering blaster shots wide into space.

Poe toggled with the controls some more but failed to find what he was looking for. “Uh oh.”

“Don’t tell me,” Finn said, inches from his ear. 

He told him anyway. “I don’t think this thing has lightspeed capability.”

“Are you sure? How did it even make it to that asteroid if it didn’t travel by hyperspace?” 

“It seems to be someone’s personal vehicle. Maybe they commuted to work in this thing. Or hitched a ride?”

Finn slumped against him. “Great. So not only did I fail the mission, but now we’re thieves.”

Poe couldn’t help but laugh. “Buddy, we were gonna steal a ship anyway. Doesn’t matter much at this point.” _Also, you blew up an entire space port that was good enough to supply us for weeks, not to mention endangering or even killing whoever was down there._ But Poe didn’t say that part out loud.

“Yeah, but we were going to steal from a pirate! Not some poor maintenance worker, who we probably just stranded on an asteroid. An asteroid that’s on fire!” Finn waved his arms around, or tried to in the cramped cockpit. The unexpected motion jostled Poe forward in his seat. They shifted around again, grumbling, trying to get comfortable.

When he was at last able to sit without threat of his arms falling asleep, Poe inclined his head slightly to Finn. “And who’s fault is it that the asteroid is on fire?”

This close Poe could see each muscle in Finn’s jaw as it clenched. “Shut it.” Then with a more even tone, “At least the First Order can’t use it either. The itinerary told me they’ve been using this port as their refueling stop off the Rimma Trade Route.”

“So they’re bold enough to use the major hyper lanes now? Well, that could be useful,” Poe said, hoping to alleviate some of the tension in the cramped space. 

He only received an absent sounding hum in response. 

Finn had ended up almost curled against him, one knee bent and pressed hard against his thigh. His arm and right shoulder were still extended behind Poe, but now his left arm was left awkwardly laying across his own chest. After some hesitation, Finn brought his hand up to rest against Poe’s left shoulder. The position was strangely intimate, but he didn’t want to say anything less he made Finn uncomfortable. 

Getting a rise out of his friend didn’t satisfy Poe, even if he was mainly to blame for their predicament. Finn was right, they did fail their mission, almost catastrophically so. Finn retrieved a data chip of future supply drops that the Resistance so desperately needed, but he had also completely obliterated the asteroid port. The shuttle that they were under the impression would be parked and waiting for repair was nowhere to be seen. And now they were in a defenseless, weaponless, absolutely useless pleasure craft, stranded in space. 

Several minutes of silence passed as Poe thought out their next moves. They would have to fly back to where they started, Sharlissia. There, they could contact the _Falcon_ and request pickup. Just a handful of hours earlier, he and Finn had been dropped off at the space port there and shuttled to the orbiting asteroid under the guise of mechanics. Hopefully no one there would recognize the ship and recognize that Finn and Poe were not its usual owners.

Poe waited a minute longer, then spoke into the tense silence. “I always wanted to be a pirate.”

“Really?” Finn had to crane his neck back to get a good look at him.

Poe nodded, reminiscing. “I got a hoverbike for my fifth birthday. I used to fly it around the yard and pretend to commandeer my mom’s A-wing when she was working on it.”

Finn laughed through his nose. “You must’ve made a terrible pirate, if you ended up with the Resistance.”

Instead of joking along with Finn, Poe thought of a few examples from his past that would not have made that statement entirely true. After a moment’s consideration, he found that he didn’t really want to tell Finn about it after all. He was ashamed of some of the choices he made as a teenager and wasn’t sure he could handle Finn’s criticism if he told him just now. Especially being cooped up in a cockpit made for one, with nowhere to go. 

“Yeah, well, my dad would’ve had my head if I did,” he said. Again, not an entirely untrue statement. There had been plenty of shouting matches in the Dameron household, before and after Kijimi. 

Finn hummed in response but said nothing else for a while. Then, “From what else you’ve told me, your dad sounds great. I’d like to meet him someday.”

Something in Poe’s chest lifted and tightened at the same time. He turned his head to look at Finn. “I think he would like to meet you, too.”

“Yeah?” Finn’s eyes widened a bit, like he didn’t expect Poe to agree.

“Yeah,” he said earnestly, nodding. “I’ve been meaning to go back home and visit, but I’m afraid it’s too dangerous now.” He thought back on the wanted fugitive list published by the First Order and his stomach lurched. In one breath he could come up with several worst possible outcomes were he to return home during the war. “As soon as this is all over, maybe.”

“Then I’ll go with you. Not many other options for me after the war, is there?” His tone was lighthearted, but Poe could detect a miniscule trace of something that made him ache for Finn. A flicker of anguish, longing even.

Poe then thought of something, a question he had periodic thoughts on. He was hesitant to ask, but really, when would they ever have a better time?

“Have you ever thought about finding your birth family?” his voice softer than he expected it to be.

Finn’s face was contemplative, his brow drawn down tight. He tried to shrug but his right shoulder was caught underneath Poe’s own. He felt and understood the movement all the same, and stayed silent, waiting for Finn to find the words. 

“I don’t think I would even know how to start,” he said.

“Starting might be the hardest part. After that…” Poe’s voice fell away. While he wanted to give his friend hope, he didn’t want to encourage him down a path that might hurt him in the end.

“I’ll help you,” Poe said, changing course. “If you choose to look, I’ll be with you when you do. If you’ll have me.”

A cascade of emotion washed over Finn’s face. He tried to duck his head but there was nowhere for him to hide. Poe could see water pooling in the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over.

“Why would you want to do that?” the younger man asked.

“After everything you’ve done for me, for the Resistance? How could I not?” That wasn’t false sentiment. Poe often thought back on where they would be without Finn and couldn’t fathom it. The course of their history changed dramatically when Finn pulled him out of that chair on the _Finalizer._ Poe didn’t think he could live with himself if he didn’t at least try and return the favor.

And repaying that debt wasn’t the only thing that fueled him. A fire burned inside him, had been burning for quite some time. Usually it was so quiet, almost nonexistent. Tonight, it blazed. He brought a hand up to touch Finn’s right one on his shoulder. His gloves had gone missing too somewhere between disembarking the shuttle and finding the orbital jumper. Finn’s hand was cold when he covered it with his own, skin to skin.

The other man’s brow leveled out some and his lips pressed tightly together as he fought his emotions. Poe looked away then, allowing his friend the only privacy he could get. Outside the ship, everything was muted, smooth. The stars listened.

“Thank you,” Finn whispered. “I’d really like that.”

 _You don’t have to thank me. It would be the least I could do._ Poe almost said but chose to stay quiet. The moment pulsed between them; emotions traded like words. Never had Poe’s heart ached so painfully in his chest. His hand remained clasping the other, offering heat and solace.

The next time he spoke, his voice was low, delicately breaking apart the hush that had fallen between them. 

“We won’t land for quite a while,” he said, eyeing the distant yellow star that was slowly growing into a full-sized planet. The star hopper didn’t move as fast as the shuttle they had disembarked in. Poe estimated at most a couple of hours before they reached the planet. “Why don’t you get some rest?”

It was an invitation open to so many possibilities. Such a simple statement of words, but it left Poe feeling like a free fall. 

Finn’s voice was rough as he spoke. “Yeah, okay.” 

His head came down to rest on Poe’s shoulder. Poe didn’t mind it, even with Finn’s hair tickling his neck. The fire inside him would be fed for days.

Later when they both climb out of the ship and stumble to get the feeling back in their legs, both men will be grateful, but secretly consider the adventure worth it. There will be a crick in Finn’s neck and a bruise on Poe’s shoulder from leaning against a metal knob to compensate but they won’t complain about it. And when they ditch the star hopper and begin to make their way to a nearby cantina to wait for their ride, Poe will place a hand on Finn’s lower back the whole way there, and it will not feel out of place, not one bit. 

  
  
  
  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ❤️❤️❤️


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